TRS president K Chandrashekar Rao, who led his party to a massive victory in the December 7 assembly elections, was sworn-in Thursday as the chief minister of Telangana for a second straight term.

KCR, as Rao is popularly known, was administered the oath of office and secrecy by Governor E S L Narasimhan at a simple ceremony on the lawns of Raj Bhavan here.

Source- Economic Times

2.Zoramthanga to be sworn in as Mizoram CM on Saturday

Mizo National Front (MNF) presidentZoramthanga would be sworn-in as the chief minister of Mizoram at the Raj Bhavan here at 12 noon on Saturday, state protocol department officials said Wednesday.

Governor Kummanam Rajasekharan formally invited Zoramthanga on Wednesday to form the next government after receiving the signed notification of the result from Election Commission officials who arrived here late in the evening, Raj Bhavan sources said.

Mr. Zoramthanga will replace Lal Tanhawla

He was the state chief minister for two terms earlier from 1998 to 2008.

Source-Press Trust Of India

3.Kovind launches mobile app for farmers in Myanmar

President Ram Nath Kovind on Wednesday launched a mobile app for farmers in Myanmar and dedicated a centre to promote agriculture research and education to the people here.

External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said that the president launched the mobile app on agritech.

while dedicating the Advanced Centre for Agricultural Research and Education (ACARE) in Yezin Agricultural University to the people of Myanmar.

President Kovind also dedicated the Rice Bio Park in Yezin Agricultural University to the people of Myanmar which was set up under the mentorship of M S Swaminathan Research Foundation.

Myanmar (Burma) Capital: Naypyidaw, Currency: Burmese kyat.

Myanmar is the only ASEAN member state that is both a land and maritime neighbor of India.

“India today signed Ascension Agreement to the Trans Regional Maritime Network (T-RMN). The multilat (sic) construct comprises 30 countries & is steered by Italy. Cmde KM Ramakrishnan signed the agreement at Rome in Italian Naval Hq on behalf of #IndianNavy,” the Navy’s spokesperson.

Nitin Jairam Gadkari is the present Minister of Shipping.

Source- Economic Times

5.CAG Rajiv Mehrishi appointed as Vice-Chair of UN Panel of Auditors

Comptroller and Auditor General Rajiv Mehrishi has become the Vice-Chair of the UN Panel of Auditors, CAG said on Tuesday. The United Nations Panel of Auditors consists of External Auditors of the United Nations and its agencies.

Presently, the panel consists of 11 countries — India, Germany, Chile, Canada, France, Italy, Philippines, Ghana, Indonesia, Switzerland and United Kingdom. Currently, the panel is chaired by the Comptroller and Auditor General of the UK.

Source- The Hindu Business Line

6. Russia emerges as world’s No. 2 arms producer

A Swedish think tank said Monday that Russia has emerged as the world’s second-largest arms producer after the United States. Russia surpassed Britain, which had held that spot since 2002 and remains Western Europe’s No. 1 arms maker.

The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute said in its annual report on the world’s 100 biggest armaments groups that the combined arms sales of Russian companies amounted to $37.7 billion in 2017, an 8.5 percent rise from a year earlier.

Russia’s sales accounted for 9.5 percent of a worldwide total of $398.2 billion.

Manika Batra became the first Indian to win a ‘Breakthrough Table Tennis Star’ award at the prestigious ITTF Star Awards in South Korea on Wednesday.

Manika started the year on a high at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, guiding India to its first-ever gold medal in the Women’s Team category as they defeated four-time gold medallists and defending champions Singapore 3-1.

She bagged another gold in the Women’s singles category and defeated former World No.4 Feng Tianwei on her way to the first spot.

Manika also reached her career-best ranking of 52 in 2018 and became India’s highest ranked female player.

Source- NDTV news

9.Allan Border Medal Rebranded As Australian Cricket Awards

The Australian Cricket Awards will be a wonderful celebration of our sport and an occasion that highlights the achievement of our women’s and men’s players, said CA CEO Kevin Roberts.

With the increase in recognition of women’s cricket and the popularity of the T20 format, Cricket Australia (CA) and the Australian Cricketers’ Association (ACA) on Thursday announced to rebrand its Allan Border Medal to Australian Cricket Awards from 2019 onwards

Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Shri Radha Mohan Singh launched a portal ENSURE- National Livestock Mission-EDEG developed by NABARD and operated under the Department of Animal Husbandry, Dairying & Fisheries today.

In order to make it better, simpler and transparent, the NABARD has developed an online portal “ENSURE” (https://ensure.nabard.org) so that the information related to beneficiary and processing of application can be made readily available.

UNION Home Ministry has launched a Twitter account to spread awareness about cyber crimes and normal precautions to be taken. The Twitter handles – @CyberDost – is aimed at enhancing people’s basic knowledge about cybercrimes and precautions to be taken for prevention.

Home Ministry said in the release that government is committed to creating an ecosystem to prevent and control cyber crimes to mitigate the possibility of disruption in normal business activities or losses due to cybercrimes.

Rajnath Singh is the Home Minister of India.

Source-IndianAwaaz

4.EU Ambassador opens India’s first CoE at MAHE

India’s first Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence established by the European Union was inaugurated at the Department of European Studies (DES) at Manipal Academy of Higher Education here on Saturday by Ambassador of the European Union (EU) to India and Bhutan, Tomasz Kozlowski.

The award comes with a grant of €1,00,000 to pursue India-EU interdisciplinary studies in culture, literature, education and society.

Israel on Monday became a full member of the Financial Action Task Force, an international body set up to combat money laundering, terrorist financing and other threats to the international financial system.

The Jewish state has now taken its place alongside 37 other members — including most of the G20, the world’s 20 leading industrialized and emerging economies — just 16 years after being blacklisted by the organization.

FATF President Marshall Billingslea

Israel Capital: Jerusalem, Currency: Israeli new shekel.

Source-Times of Israel

6.Naomi Osaka’s coach, Sascha Bajin, named WTA Coach of the Year

Sascha Bajin was chosen as the first winner of the WTA Coach of the Year award after helping Naomi Osaka to her US Open title.

The first season as a team for Bajin and Osaka produced her first WTA title at Indian Wells, then her first Grand Slam title in New York, where she beat Serena Williams in the final. Bajin used to work with Williams.

Source-Espn.com

7.Mary Kom honoured with Meethoileima title

Manipur Government yesterday honoured AIBA World Women Boxing Gold medalist MC Mary Kom with the title “Meethoileima” (par excellent queen) at a function in Imphal yesterday.

On the occasion, State Chief Minister N. Biren Singh handed over a cheque of ten lakh rupees to her. The Chief Minister also declared that the Imphal West DC Road towards Game Village will be named as MC Mary Kom Road.

Source-All India Radio

8.Slain Journalist Jamal Khashoggi Named Time Magazine’s ‘Person of the Year’

Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, who was murdered in October at his country’s Istanbul consulate, was on Tuesday named Time magazine’s “Person of the Year” alongside several other journalists.

The magazine also honored Philippine journalist Maria Ressa, Reuters reporters Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo — currently imprisoned in Myanmar — and the staff of the Capital Gazette in Annapolis, Maryland, including five members killed in a June shooting.

Time awards the “Person of the Year” title annually since 1927.

It is the first time someone has been chosen posthumously for the prestigious cover.

US President Donald Trump was the 2016 “Person of the Year”.

Source-News18.com

9.Shaktikanta Das appointed as the new RBI Governor

Former economic affairs secretary Shaktikanta Das was named the 25th governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to succeed Urjit Patel, who quit abruptly on Monday amid a bitter dispute over the regulator’s autonomy.

The appointment means that the central bank will once again be headed by a former Indian Administrative Services (IAS) officer. Patel, who had said he was resigning for personal reasons, and his predecessor Raghuram Rajan are economists.

The indigenously built Inter-Continental Ballistic Missile Agni-5 has been test-fired successfully from Abdul Kalam island under Chandipur Interim Test Range on Monday.

This is the fourth successful test of this missile. Previously the test of Agni 4 was unsuccessful. Having 17 meters length and 2 meters diameter the missile can hit the target from a distance of 5 thousand kilometres.

Source- All India Radio

2.Asian Development Bank inks $31-mn loan agreement for tourism development in

Tamil Nadu

the tourism infrastructure in Tamil Nadu, the Asian Development Bank signed aloan agreement for $31 million with the Central Government here on Tuesday. The aim is to build the tourism industry in the state and also boost visitor arrivals.

The signatories to the tranche 4 loan for the Infrastructure Development Investment Program for Tourism (IDIPT) were Sameer Kumar Khare, Additional Secretary (Fund Bank and ADB), Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, who signed for the Centre, and Kenichi Yokoyama, Country Director for ADB in India, who signed for ADB.

The Asian Development Bank is a regional development Bank established in 1966.

Headquarters of ADB is in Manila, Philippines.

Takehiko Nakao is Present President of the Asian Development Bank.

Source-The Hindu Business Line

3.Centre’s contribution to NPS hiked to 14% of basic salary

In a bid to make retirement income scheme more attractive for central government employees, the government has agreed to chip in a higher 14 per cent of the basic salary of an individual as its contribution to the National Pension System (NPS), a top source said.

The move would benefit over 36 lakh central government employees.

National Pension System (NPS) is a government-sponsored pension scheme that was launched in January 2004 for government employees.

Source-The Hindu Business Line

4.Sino-Indian militaries begin ‘Hand-in-Hand’ drills in China

India and China on Tuesday began the 7th round of their ‘Hand-in-Hand’ military drills in the Chinese city of Chengdu as part of the focussed efforts by the two militaries to improve ties after last year’s standoff at Doklam.

“The aim of the Hand-in-Hand exercises is to build closer relations between the militaries of India and China. The exercises involve tactical level operations in an International Counter Insurgency/ Counter Terrorist environment as per UN mandate,”

China Capital: Beijing, Currency: Renminbi

Source-Economic Times

5.President Kovind to embark on 4-day visit to Myanmar

President Ram Nath Kovind will be on a four-day visit to Myanmar from today. During his stay, the President will visit capital Nay Pyi Taw and Yangon, and interact with his counterpart U Win Myint and State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi. A high-level delegation is also accompanying Mr Kovind.

During the visit, President will meet the surviving members of the Indian National Army and attend a community reception. He will also visit various development projects funded by India. Myanmar is a country where India’s “Act East” and “Neighbourhood First” policies intersect.

Myanmar (Burma) Capital: Naypyidaw, Currency: Burmese kyat.

Myanmar is the only ASEAN member state that is both a land and maritime neighbor of India.

Asia’s most glamorous red carpet event of the year! We’re just three weeks away from the first-ever Asian Academy Creative Awards and the national/regional winners have been announced! With over 100 submissions from 16 countries, to say the list is exhaustive is an understatement.

The sash and trophy makes it’s way back to India as Mr India Prathamesh Maulingkar bags the title of Mr Supranational 2018. The hottie won hearts with his good looks, dapper suits and brilliant answer during the question – answer round.

The fourth runner up was announced as Mr Netherlands followed by third runner up as Mr Thailand. With Mr Brazil as second runner up, Mr Poland was declared as the first runner up. By the end of the night, it was Mr India who was declared as Mr Supranational 2018.

“Kerala celebrates the opening of Kannur Airport, which is the fourth International airport in the State.

Kerala Governor: Palanisamy Sathasivam, Capital: Thiruvananthapuram

Source-The Indian Express

2.1st International Conference on Sustainable Water Management inaugurated at Mohali today

The Governor of Himachal Pradesh, Shri Acharya Devvrat said that water – a source of life and a gift of nature to the mankind needs to be conserved and saved at all costs in all possible ways with collective efforts by one and all at all levels in an integrated and sustainable manner.

The first International Conference on ‘Sustainable Water Management’ was held at Indian School of Business (ISB) in Mohali, Punjab.

Source- Press Information Bureau

3.Upendra Kushwaha resigns as Union minister, likely to quit NDA

Union minister of state for human resource development Upendra Kushwaha, today, resigned from the Union Council of Ministers. and is all set to resign from the Union Council of Ministers on Monday, news agency AN

IThe Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP) chief is likely to quit the BJP-led NDA alliance as he is not happy with the BJP over its seat sharing formula in Bihar for the 2019 elections.

Source- Economic Times

4.Atul Sahai appointed as New India Assurance CMD for a 5 year term

The Government on Tuesday announced that Atul Sahai will be apponted as Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of New India Assurance (NIA) for a five year period.

The appointments committee of the cabinet announced that Sahai, currently the general manager at Oriental Insurance, will head NIA following a recommendation from the department of financial services.

Source- Business Standard

5.Mexico’s Vanessa Ponce de Leon crowned Miss World 2018

Vanessa Ponce de Leon of Mexico on Saturday was crowned as Miss World 2018 by outgoing queen Manushi Chhillar in the coastal city of Sanya, China. She is the first Mexican queen to have won the title. Nicolene Limsnukan of Thailand was named first runner-up.

Source- The Indian Express

6.CAD widens to 2.9 pc of GDP in Q2

India’s current account deficit (CAD) widened to 2.9 per cent of the GDP in the second quarter of the fiscal compared to 1.1 per cent in the year-ago period, mainly due to a large trade deficit, the RBI.

the difference between outflow and inflow of foreign exchange in the country’s current account, was USD 19.1 billion during the quarter ended September 30, 2018.

It increased from USD 6.9 billion or 1.1per cent of GDP in the second quarter of 2017-18.

The CAD stood at USD 15.9 billion (2.4 per cent of GDP) in the April-June quarter.

Source- Times of India

7.Khelo India Youth Games to start from January 9

Khelo India Youth Games-2019 will be held in Pune of Maharashtra from the 9th to 20th of January.

Addressing a press conference in New Delhi today, Sports Minister Col Rajyavardhan Rathore said, nine thousand youth will participate in this edition of the game.

Last year around 3500 school children had participated in the event. He said, in this edition of Khelo India Youth Games university players will also take part.

The government has sanctioned 254 projects worth over 24 thousand crore rupees under National Mission for Clean Ganga.

Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Minister Nitin Gadkari said, around five thousand crore rupees have been spent in the last four years under it.

Mr Gadkari was speaking after inaugurating India Water Impact Summit 2018 in New Delhi today. He said the government has decided to spend another three thousand crore rupees next year under the programme.

Source-All India Radio

3.Gangotri, Yamunotri included under PRASAD scheme: Tourism ministry

The Centre has included Gangotri and Yamunotri in Uttrarakhand, Amarkantak in Madhya Pradesh and Parasnath in Jharkhand under a central scheme to develop pilgrimage and heritage destinations in the country, a tourism ministry statement said.

With the new additions, the number of sites under the Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual, Heritage Augmentation Drive (PRASAD) launched by the ministry in 2014-15 has now become 41 in 25 states.

5.Second meeting of the NITI Forum for the North East being held in Guwahati

The second meeting of the NITI Forum for the North East is being held in Guwahati today. Minister of State for Development of North Eastern Region, Dr Jitendra Singh and Vice Chairman of NITI Aayog Rajiv Kumar is taking part in the meeting.

The members of the forum include Secretaries of various central ministries, Chief Secretaries of all eight North-eastern states, senior government officials and experts from various fields.

The Delhi government on Wednesday launched the ‘Mukhyamantri Tirth Yatra Yojana’ — which offers free travel packages on five religious circuits for senior citizens from the national capital.

The scheme, approved by the Cabinet in July, was launched by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal at the Delhi Secretariat.

“The scheme will enable 1,100 seniorcitizens from each Assembly constituency of Delhi per year to undertake free pilgrimage, the expenses for which will be borne by the Delhi government,” Kejriwal said, adding that a total of 77,000 pilgrims will be able to avail this facility every year.

Anil Baijal is the present Lt. Governor of Delhi

Source-Business Standard

7.Sahitya Akademi names winners for ’18, awards in January

The Sahitya Akademi on Wednesday announced winners of its annual award for 2018, and the Bhasha Samman for 2017 and 2018.

Here is the complete list of winners of Sahitya Akademi Awards 2018:

Sl. No.

Winner

Language

For Collection of Poetry

1

Sananta Tanti

Assamese

2

Paresh Narendra Kamat

Konkani

3

S Ramesan Nair

Malayalam

4

Dr Rama Kant Shukla

Sanskrit

5

Dr Mohanjit

Punjabi

6

Dr Rajesh Kumar Vyas

Rajasthani

7

Khiman U Mulani

Sindhi

For short stories

8

Sanjib Chattopadhyay

Bengali

9

Mushtaq Ahmed Mushtaq

Kashmiri

10

Prof Bina Thakur

Maithili

For Novel

11

Inderjeet Kesar

Dogri

12

Anees Salim

English

13

Chitra Mudgal

Hindi

14

Shyam Besra

Santali

15

S Ramakrishnan

Tamil

16

Rahman Abbas

Urdu

17

Short-story writer, Mushtaq Ahmad Mushtaq, bagged the Award for his collection of short stories “AAKH’

The government has sanctioned 254 projects worth over 24 thousand crore rupees under National Mission for Clean Ganga.

Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Minister Nitin Gadkari said, around five thousand crore rupees have been spent in the last four years under it.

Mr Gadkari was speaking after inaugurating India Water Impact Summit 2018 in New Delhi today. He said the government has decided to spend another three thousand crore rupees next year under the programme.

Source-All India Radio

3.Gangotri, Yamunotri included under PRASAD scheme: Tourism ministry

The Centre has included Gangotri and Yamunotri in Uttrarakhand, Amarkantak in Madhya Pradesh and Parasnath in Jharkhand under a central scheme to develop pilgrimage and heritage destinations in the country, a tourism ministry statement said.

With the new additions, the number of sites under the Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual, Heritage Augmentation Drive (PRASAD) launched by the ministry in 2014-15 has now become 41 in 25 states.

5.Second meeting of the NITI Forum for the North East being held in Guwahati

The second meeting of the NITI Forum for the North East is being held in Guwahati today. Minister of State for Development of North Eastern Region, Dr Jitendra Singh and Vice Chairman of NITI Aayog Rajiv Kumar is taking part in the meeting.

The members of the forum include Secretaries of various central ministries, Chief Secretaries of all eight North-eastern states, senior government officials and experts from various fields.

The Delhi government on Wednesday launched the ‘Mukhyamantri Tirth Yatra Yojana’ — which offers free travel packages on five religious circuits for senior citizens from the national capital.

The scheme, approved by the Cabinet in July, was launched by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal at the Delhi Secretariat.

“The scheme will enable 1,100 seniorcitizens from each Assembly constituency of Delhi per year to undertake free pilgrimage, the expenses for which will be borne by the Delhi government,” Kejriwal said, adding that a total of 77,000 pilgrims will be able to avail this facility every year.

Anil Baijal is the present Lt. Governor of Delhi

Source-Business Standard

7.Sahitya Akademi names winners for ’18, awards in January

The Sahitya Akademi on Wednesday announced winners of its annual award for 2018, and the Bhasha Samman for 2017 and 2018.

Here is the complete list of winners of Sahitya Akademi Awards 2018:

Sl. No.

Winner

Language

For Collection of Poetry

1

Sananta Tanti

Assamese

2

Paresh Narendra Kamat

Konkani

3

S Ramesan Nair

Malayalam

4

Dr Rama Kant Shukla

Sanskrit

5

Dr Mohanjit

Punjabi

6

Dr Rajesh Kumar Vyas

Rajasthani

7

Khiman U Mulani

Sindhi

For short stories

8

Sanjib Chattopadhyay

Bengali

9

Mushtaq Ahmed Mushtaq

Kashmiri

10

Prof Bina Thakur

Maithili

For Novel

11

Inderjeet Kesar

Dogri

12

Anees Salim

English

13

Chitra Mudgal

Hindi

14

Shyam Besra

Santali

15

S Ramakrishnan

Tamil

16

Rahman Abbas

Urdu

17

Short-story writer, Mushtaq Ahmad Mushtaq, bagged the Award for his collection of short stories “AAKH’

India and the UAE on Tuesday signed two agreements, including one on currency swap, as External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj held exhaustive discussions with her counterpart Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan to step up cooperation in areas like trade, security and defence.

This is the 12th session of the India-UAE Joint Commission Meeting for Economic and Technical Cooperation.

Union Minister for Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation Shri Nitin Gadkari will inaugurate India Water Impact Summit2018, being jointly organized by the National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) and the Centre for Ganga River Basin Management and Studies (cGanga) from 5-7 December 2018 in New Delhi.

The India Water Impact Summit is an annual event where stakeholders get together to discuss, debate and develop model solutions for some of the biggest water related problems in the country.

Spotlight on 5 states: Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Delhi and Bihar. The objective is to showcase the efforts and works going on within the respective states.

Ministry of Railways’ National Rail Museum (NRM) and Madame Tussauds Wax Museum join hands together to provide an amazing combo offer to Delhi NCR tourists. As a part of the collaboration, a special discount of 35% on ticket prices will be offered to NRM visitors when they visit Madame Tussauds Museum.

Madame Tussauds Wax Museum visitors will be getting an attractive discount of 30% on combo packages of NRM.

In this regard, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) has been signed between Ministry of Railways and Madame Tussauds Wax Museum. Secretary, Railway Board, Shri Ranjanesh Sahai, Director & General Manager of Madame Tussauds, Shri Anshul Jain, Sr. Officials of Ministry of Railways and other dignitaries were also present on the occasion.

In 2017, Madame Tussauds opened its 23rd Wax museum in Connaught Place (CP), New Delhi.

John Mathai was the first railway minister of independent India.

Source- Press Information Bureau

4.EX SHINYUU Maitri-2018 With JASDF Commences

The Japanese Air Self Defence Force (JASDF) is in India for a bilateral air exercise SHINYUU Maitri-18 with Indian Air Force from 03-07 Dec 18 at A F Station Agra.

The theme of the exercise is joint Mobility/Humanitarian Assistance & Disaster Relief (HADR) on Transport aircraft.

The JASDF C2 aircraft along with aircrew/observers are part of this first air exercise between the two Air Forces.

IAF is participating with An-32 and C-17 aircraft with aircrew & observers. The focus of the exercise is set for the IAF and JASDF crews to undertake Joint Mobility/ HADR operations. Display of heavy loading/ off loading are also planned to be practiced during this exercise.

Source- Press Information Bureau

5.1st India-ASEAN InnoTech Summit Held in New Delhi

The very first India-ASEAN InnoTech Summit was held in New Delhi. It was organized by Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Sector (FICCI) in affiliation with Department of Science & Know-how (DST) and Ministry of External Affairs.

Participating ASEAN member international locations in this summit were Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam. On sidelines of this summit, an exhibition to showcase very best Indian Impressive Technologies, with probable implementation in ASEAN area was also structured.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate on December 25 the Bogibeel Bridge,

India’s longest rail-road bridge, connecting the north and south banks of the Brahmaputra, falling in the eastern part of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.

The bridge is 4.94 km long.

While former prime minister H D Deve Gowda laid the foundation stone for the Bogibeel bridge in January 1997, the work started only in April 2002 when former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee inaugurated the construction.

Source- Times of India

7.SpaceX deploys 64 satellites in one launch under “rideshare” agreement

a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket successfully deployed 64 satellites that were aboard the vessel in what the company dubbed a “rideshare”.

The mission comes days after India fired a rocket carrying 31 satellites into space.

In November SpaceX received approval from the Federal Communications Commission to launch thousands of satellites into orbit, adding to its proposed satellite constellation.

Source- Engineering and Technology

8.ISRO Successfully Launches GSAT-11, India’s Heaviest Satellite

India’s heaviest satellite GSAT-11, that would boost broadband services in the country, was successfully launched by an Arianespace rocket from the French Guiana in the early hours of Wednesday, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) said.

Blasting off from the Ariane Launch Complex at Kourou, a French territory located along the northeastern coast of South America at 02:07 am (IST), the Ariane-5 vehicle injected GSAT-11 into the orbit in a flawless flight lasting about 33 minutes.

the heaviest, largest and most powerful satellite ever built by India is successfully launched by Ariane-5 today,” ISRO Chairman K Sivan said soon after the launch, describing the GSAT-11 as the “richest space asset” for India.

Director: K. Sivan, Headquarters: Bengaluru, Established in: 1969.

Source- NDTV

9.State Bank of India ropes in Swapna Barman as brand ambassador for YONO

State Bank of India has roped in AsianGames gold medalist Swapna Barman as brand ambassador for its digital app YONO.

YONO, the bank’s digital platform that makes both lifestyle and banking available through a single app, was launched exactly a year back.

Swapna won gold medal in Heptathlon in Jakarta Asian Games with a score of 6026 and is looking to break the 6200 score barrier to qualify for Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

Source-Economic Times

10.Monetary policy: RBI leaves key rates unchanged

The Reserve Bank of India on Wednesday left the key rates unchanged in line with its stance “of calibrated tightening of monetary policy”.

Accordingly, the policy repo rate remains unchanged at 6.5 per cent with the reverse repo rate at 6.25 per cent. The decision was taken at the fifth bi-monthly meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee.

GDP growth for 2018-19 has been projected at 7.4 per cent (7.2-7.3 per cent in second half) as in the October policy, and for first half of 2019-20 at 7.5 per cent, with risks somewhat to the downside, it further said.

The Centre and Asian Development Bank (ADB) have signed an 85 million dollar loan to improve skill development eco-system in Odisha. An advanced skill training centre, the World Skill Center(WSC) will also be established in Bhubaneswar with the help of a loan.

The Odisha Skill Development Project agreement was signed by Additional Secretary in the Finance Ministry Sameer Kumar Khare and Country Director of ADB’s India Resident Mission Kenichi Yokoyama in New Delhi yesterday.

The project will help over 1.5 lakh people learn skills in priority sectors, including manufacturing, construction and services for formal employment.

Takeshi Watanabe was ADB’s first President.

Headquarters of ADB is in Manila, Philippines.

Takehiko Nakao is a Japanese civil servant who was elected the ninth president of the Asian Development Bank in 2013.

The portal was launched during the course of a day long National Workshop on Municipal Finance and Urban Planning organised by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs and provided a platform to identify key areas of concern regarding municipal finance and urban planning, and exploring the options available to resolve them by inviting senior officials / experts to shed light on best practices.

All 35 states / UTs & all scheduled commercial banks, RRBs and Cooperative Banks are expected to be on board the PAiSA portal the year end.

Source- Press Information Bureau

3.Union Home Minister launches Emergency Response Support System (ERSS) for Himachal Pradesh

The Union Home Minister Shri RajnathSingh launched Emergency Response Support System (ERSS) for Himachal Pradesh at Mandi today.

Himachal Pradesh is the first state to launch pan-India single emergency number ‘112’ under ERSS.

To ensure safety of women, a SHOUT feature has been introduced in ‘112 India’ mobile app to seek immediate assistance from registered volunteers in the vicinity apart from the immediate assistance from Emergency Response Centre.

“The AB-PMJAY is the world’s largest healthcare scheme which aims at providing portable coverage of Rs 5 lakh per entitled family annually, and a beneficiary covered under the scheme would be allowed to avail cashless benefits from public and private empanelled hospitals across the country,

Source- Financial Express

5.’Bahrain and Maharashtra Government signs MoU on fintech

The Economic Development Board (EDB), the investment promotion arm of the Kingdom of Bahrain today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Maharashtra Government to provide a framework for Co-operation between the two authorities to promoteFinTech in their respective markets.

This MoU is in line with the EDB’s aims of exploring greater synergies between India and Bahrain in the financial technology space and will last for an initial period of three years.

Bahrain Capital: Manama, Currency: Bahraini dinar

Source- Business Standard

6.Qatar to quit OPEC in Jan. 2019, says its energy minister

Qatar will leave the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) next month in order to focus on gas production, the Gulf state’s newEnergy Minister Saad al-Kaabi announced.

It has been a member of OPEC since 1961, and the decision to pull out after all these decades comes at a turbulent time in Gulf politics, with Doha under a boycott by former neighbouring allies, including Saudi Arabia for 18 months.

HE Mohammad Sanusi Barkindo is the Secretary General of OPEC.

OPEC headquarters in Vienna, Capital of Austria.

Source- The Hindu

7.Jon Ridgeon appointed as CEO of IAAF

The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) on Monday announced the appointment of Jon Ridgeon as its new CEO following approval by the IAAF Council on the first day of its 215th Council Meeting in Monaco. Ridgeon will take up the new role in March 2019.

Expressing happiness over his appointment as the CEO Ridgeon claimed that this is his dream job.

International Association of Athletics Federations Headquarters in Monaco.

Source-Business Standard

8.Yes Bank appoints ex-Irdai chief Vijayan as additional director

Yes Bank Monday announced appointment of T S Vijayan, former Irdai chairman, as an additional director for five years with immediate effect.

Vijayan was chairman of the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai). He has also held senior positions in various capacities at the Life Insurance Corporation of India and became its chairman in 2006.

The private sector lender is grappling with governance as well as non-performing asset issues and has seen resignations of three independent directors, including Chairman Ashok Chawla, in the recent past.

Source-Financial Express

9.Pawan Singh is first Indian to be elected in ISSF’s judges committee

Pawan Singh has become the first Indian to be elected one of seven member’s of the Judges Committee of the International Shooting Sports Federation (ISSF).

Singh also holds the post of the Joint Secretary General of the National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) and was a former coach of the Indian shooting team.

Singh got elected onto the seven members’ Judges Committee for which 22 candidates from all over the world were in fray, a release said. Members of the administrative council of ISSF voted to select the committee during the elections held at Munich

Source-The Indian Express

10.A N Jha is the new finance secretary

A N Jha, secretary, expenditure, has been appointed as new finance secretary, a government order said Monday

Prime Minister Narendra Modi led Appointments Committee of the Cabinet has cleared Jha’s appointment to the post after incumbent Hasmukh Adhia, a 1981-batch Gujarat cadre officer of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS), retired on November 30.

The ‘Ex Cope India-18’ will be the fourthedition in the series of bilateral drills between the Indian Air Force and the US Air Force.

Air forces of India and the US will begin a 12-day military exercise in Kalaikunda and Panagarh air bases in West Bengal from Monday with an aim to enhance operational coordination.

The US has sent a fleet of F15 C/D and C-130 military aircraft. The IAF is participating with the Su-30 MKI, Jaguar, Mirage 2000, C-130J and AWACS (Airborne Warning and Control System) aircraft.

Birender Singh Dhanoa is the present chief of Air Staff of Indian Air Force

Source-Ndtv

2.South African President Cyril Ramaphosa To Be 2019 Republic Day Chief Guest

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa will be chief guest at India’s 70th Republic Day celebrations. Mr Ramaphosa was invited to be the chief guest by Prime Minister Narendra Modi when the two leaders met on the sidelines of the G20 summit in Argentina’s capital Buenos Aires.

External Affairs Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar on “President Ramaphosa accepted India’s invitation to be the Chief Guest at Republic Day during 150th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.”

This year, in a first, the chief guest at Republic Day celebrations were the 10 heads of state from ASEAN or Association of Southeast Asian Nations, a regional grouping of 10 Southeast Asian countries (Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos and Brunei).

India’s first self powered engine-less train, known as Train 18, on Sunday breached the 180 kilometre per hour(kmph) speed limit during a trial run on Sunday, a senior railway official said. Designed to run at 160 kmph, the Train 18 breached the 180 kmph mark in the Kota-Sawai Madhopur section.

“Train 18 breached the 180 kmph speed limit becoming the first train in the Indian Railway to travel at such speed,” S Mani, general manager of Integral Coach Factory (ICF), Chennai.

Railway minister Piyush Goyal also tweeted a video of the trial run when the train breached the 180 kmph mark.

“We expect Train 18 to commence its commercial run from January 2019.

Source- Hindustan Times

4.FSSAI launches new campaign to eliminate trans fats by 2022

The Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) on Friday launched a new mass media campaign calling for the elimination of industrially produced trans fat in the food supply.

“Heart Attack Rewind”, the 30 second public service announcement (PSA) – the first mass media campaign of its kind – will support FSSAI’s global target of eliminating trans fat in India by the year 2022, a year ahead of the global target by the World Health Organization (WHO) for complete elimination of trans fat.

India is procuring two stealth frigates at a cost of $1 billion and both the ships will be equipped with indigenously developed BrahMos missiles.

Source- Times of India

6.World Bank to invest USD 200 bn in 2021-25 to fight climate change

The World Bank on Monday unveiled USD 200 billion in climate action investment for 2021-25, adding this amounts to a doubling of its current five-year funding.

Developed countries are committed to lifting combined annual public and private spending to USD 100 billion in developing countries by 2020 to fight the impact of climate change — up from 48.5 billion in 2016 and 56.7 billion last year, according to latest OECD data.

Speaking on the occasion, the President said that Indian agriculture needs a renewal of its marriage with contemporary technology; protection against climate change, price fluctuations and demand shocks; and sustained investment by and partnership with business.

He expressed confidence that Agro Tech India-2018 will promote specific partnerships that will benefit India’s farmers.

Source- Press Information Bureau

3.Experts Exchange ideas on Ganga Museum

National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG) is planning to set up a GangaExhibition and a Ganga Museum as an instrument for public outreach, depicting the river’s history and mythology, its importance for the livelihood of a huge population, as well as efforts for Ganga Rejuvenation.

Expert from India and the EuropeanUnion are meeting for two days on 29th & 30th November, 2018 to hold an International Workshop on “Developing a Ganga Museum Concept: Exchanging Experiences and Ideas between India and Europe” along with GIZ

Director General, NMCG Shri R.R.Mishra said that NMCG has been working towards the possibility for the establishment of a Ganga Museum.

Minister for Water Resources, RD & GR: Shri Nitin Gadkari.

Source- Press Information Bureau

4.Trump signs trade pact with Canada and Mexico to replace Nafta

Donald Trump and the leaders of Canada and Mexico signed a revised North American trade pact, a deal that fulfills a key political pledge by the US president but faces an uncertain future in the US Congress.

The US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) is meant to replace the 24-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta), which Trump has long denigrated as a “disaster”.

Trump has hailed the new agreement as a radical rewrite of the “worst trade deal ever made”, Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau pointedly referred to the deal as the “new North American Free Trade Agreement”.

Trump appeared with Trudeau and outgoing Mexican president Enrique Peña Nieto at the G20 summit in Buenos Aires for the formal signing ceremony. Each country’s legislature must also approve the agreement.

Source-The Guardian

5.After Amnesty Honour, Aung San Suu Kyi To Be Stripped Of Freedom Of Paris Award Over Rohingya Issue

The French capital Paris will strip Myanmar’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi of her honorary freedom of the city in response to crimes committed against the Rohingya Muslim minority.

Suu Kyi has also been stripped of her honorary Canadian citizenship and the “Ambassador of Conscience Award” granted to her by the UK-based rights organization Amnesty International for her silence on the brutal massacre of Rohingya Muslims.

More than 700,000 Rohingya have so far fled the violence in the Buddhist-majority East Asian country in 2017, mostly to neighboring Bangladesh.

Myanmar (Burma) Capital: Naypyidaw, Currency: Burmese kyat.

Source-PressTv

6.Abhinav Bindra conferred with shooting’s highest honour by ISSF

India’s Olympic and world champion shooter Abhinav Bindra has been conferred the sport’s highest honour for his outstanding services as the chairman of the International Shooting Sport Federation’s Athletes Committee.

The 36-year-old Bindra, who remains India’s lone individual Olympic gold medallist, has been bestowed with the Blue Cross, the ISSF’s highest award.

Source-The Indian Express

7.Indian-origin executives at Cisco, Uber among Forbes list of top female US tech moguls

Four Indian-origin women have been named by Forbes among America’s top 50 female technology moguls, a list that includes IBM CEO Ginni Rometty and Netflix executive Anne Aaron.

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh will inaugurate the 19th Hornbill Festival at Kisama village near state capital Kohima in Nagaland today.

Additional director of the state tourism department Akhale Vizol said, Nagaland Governor PB Acharya will be the chief host, while US Ambassador to India Kenneth I Juster has been invited as the guest of honour.

PSLV is ISRO’s third generation launch vehicle. It can carry upto 1,750 kg of payload into polar SSO of 600 km altitude.

Source-Hindustan Times

2.European Union aims to become the world’s first climate neutral economy by 2050

The European Union has unveiled a strategy to become the world’s first climate neutral economy by 2050.

Its plan, announced Thursday, will include steps such as investing in technological solutions to help lower carbon emissions. The European Commission said the strategy would be applied to almost all EU policies.

Climate neutrality is achieved when carbon emissions are at zero. The Commission said achieving this by 2050 would help it meet the objectives of the Paris Agreement – ensuring temperature increases don’t exceed 2 degrees Celsius and aiming to keep them below 1.5 degrees Celsius.

Source-Cnbc.com

3.8 more States achieve 100% household electrification under Saubhagya scheme

The Minister informed that as many as 2.1 crore connections have been released under Saubhagya so far.

Mr Singh said, with the present pace of electrification, the country is expected to achieve 100 per cent saturation in the country by 31st of this month.

The Minister said, Government is committed to ensuring 24×7 access to electricity for all by 31st March next year.

Source- Press Information Bureau

4.India to Chair Kimberley Process from 1st January 2019

The Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS) Plenary 2018, was held in Brussels, Belgium, from 12th-16thNovember 2018.EU handed over the Chairmanship of KPCS to India from 1st January, 2019.

the Plenary, Ms. Federica Mogherini, High representative for Foreign Affairs and Security policy, Vice- President of the European Commission,in the closing ceremony, handed overKPCS Chairmanship to India, from 2019, by passing on the gavel to Commerce Secretary, Dr. AnupWadhawan.

The 4-day Plenary also witnessed discussion on environmental challenges in diamond mining and industry responsibility.

Source- Press Information Bureau

5.Air forces of the US and India to hold joint exercise ‘Cope India 2019’

Air forces of the United States and India are scheduled to participate in a 12-day joint exercise‘Cope India 2019’ at two air force stations in West Bengal next month, the US Consulate said.

The Cope India exercise is being held after a gap of eight years, with the last one having taken place in 2010.

Cope India began in 2004 as a fighter training exercise held at Air Station Gwalior.

Source-Economic Times

6.DAIC and JNU sign MoU to facilitate & enhance research activities

Dr. Ambedkar International Centre and Jawaharlal Nehru University today signed an MoU to facilitate and enhance research activities and policy formulation aimed at Socio-economic Transformation and Sustainable Development.

The MoU was signed at a function in New Delhi in the presence of SocialJustice and Empowerment Minister Thaawarchand Gehlot.

The MoU was signed by Prof. M Jagadesh Kumar, Vice Chancellor of JNU and Atul Dev Sarmah, Director of Ambedkar International Centre.

Nawazuddin Siddiqui on Thursday won Asia Pacific Screen Award (APSA) 2018 for Best Performance by an Actor for his film Manto. Nandita Das, the writer-director of the film, also received an award.

Internationally acclaimed Manto, which premiered at the 2018 Cannes festival, is a biographical drama based on the life and times of the celebrated Urdu author Saadat Hasan Manto. It was released in the theatres in September this year.